


A Dragon in the King’s Court

by TheLOAD



Series: Ryan The Dragon [3]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Dragons, Gen, dragon - Freeform, kingsverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-21
Updated: 2016-05-12
Packaged: 2018-04-16 09:41:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 14,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4620564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLOAD/pseuds/TheLOAD
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Who would have ever thought a dragon would become a knight? Not Ryan, and he wants to do everything he can to keep his secret hidden.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Reminiscing

**Author's Note:**

> First chapter of the second fic. Sorry it's short, but it's a bit of an intro and I was busy these past few weeks.

If someone had asked Ryan not even a year ago if he had thought he'd be a knight, working for a king, he would have thought that person insane. Dragons didn't work for kings, they at best avoided them or at worst fought them. And dragons certainly didn't become knights.

Yet there Ryan was, laying on the bed in his quarters within the castle staring up at the ceiling and counting the cracks in the stone. He was tired from moving Edgar from her hole, especially since she kept trying to escape back to the dirt house they used to inhabit, and now all he wanted to do was relax and think.

Part of it felt wrong. Part of him knew that Geoff would never have knighted him had he known the truth about Ryan. Had known what he really was. Dragons were monsters, not beings suited to defending the kingdom. The only reason Geoff trusted him was because Ryan was lying. The knowledge of that made Ryan uneasy, but so many good things had come with the lie that he had a hard time hating himself for it.

He never would have met any of them had he lied. He never would have met Jack and Geoff, or The Lads, or Lindsay, Matt, and Jeremy. Sure he was lying, but their friendships were real. He cared about everyone in the castle, enough to fight and die for them, so what if he wasn't being completely honest? It didn't matter that much in the end.

"Hey Ryan," Jack said, coming into the doorway and breaking Ryan from his thoughts. "How was the move?"

"Exhausting," Ryan said, rolling over and sitting up, his legs hanging off the side of his bed. "Edgar didn't want to come at all. I had to track her down about five times." Jack laughed, coming into the room as Ryan stood up.

"Too exhausted to come down to The Nether with us?" Jack asked. "We need more Soul Sand." Ryan paused for a moment, thinking it over before nodding.

"I think I could manage a trip to The Nether," Ryan said. "Just let me wash up first." Jack left and Ryan let out a small sigh, sitting back on the bed and taking a small moment to relax before getting ready to head down into The Nether with everyone else.


	2. Nether Seen Before

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's late. I was having computer troubles.

"So," Michael started. "Just soul sand? Or do we need anything else?"

"You just want to kill Magma Cubes, don't you?" Geoff asked, looking at the eldest Lad, who already had his sword drawn and a grin on his face.

"Well there is a dragon flying around," Michael said. "We could use more Potions of Fire Resistance. And Ghast Tears couldn't hurt either, since we are fighting a war."

"Uh huh," Jack said, bringing up the rear along with Ryan, a large sack full of soul sand flung over his shoulder. "And you're not just using that as an excuse to kill as many things in the Nether as possible?" Michael shrugged.

"Does the why really matter, Jack?" Michael asked. "You can't argue we need more supplies to make potions."

"I wanted to try something new," Ray said. "And I could use some extra Nether Wart to do it."

"I want to try out my new bow," Gavin chimed in. All three of the Lads turned towards Ryan, trying to see if they could get the knight on their side with this. Ryan looked between the princes before shrugging, turning to Geoff.

"I could use some extra blaze powder," he said. "If I had whole rods, I could have a brewing stand in my room, and not need to bother Caleb for my potions anymore. I'd be able to make them on my own." Some independence with the potions Ryan required to keep his shape would put Ryan at ease, especially with the new anxiety about dragons that had begun to circle the kingdom.

"I guess it's settled then," Geoff said. "We're not done in The Nether yet. Alright assholes, how do you want to do this? Should we go after Michael's prey first or go after the Blazes?"

"I can handle the Blazes by myself," Ryan offered, not wanting anyone to watch him not be burned. "I think I saw a spawner not too far back. I'll kill a few, smash the thing, then head back to help the rest of you." Geoff looked skeptical of this, clearly not wanting to leave someone alone in The Nether, even for a second. "I'll be fine, Geoff. I've done this plenty of times before."

"But you only need to mess up once to die," Geoff pointed out. "We can go after the Ghasts and the Magma Cubes then deal with the Blazes together. Is that understood?" Ryan and everyone else nodded. "Good. Now let's go kill some shit.”

\-------------

Killing the Blazes had turned out to be rather easy with so many people. It was easy to surround them and take them out rapidly, and thankfully in the chaos no one noticed that Ryan hadn’t suffered any burns, not even a light singe. The Magma Cubes, however, were much harder to kill. Like Slimes they split into smaller enemies, and though weaker than their larger selves had the advantage of numbers. Worse of all, however, was what came out as they were finishing up the Cubes.

Ryan sensed them before he saw them. Something cold and wrong seemed to permeate the air, seemed to cut him down to his very core. The air felt sick, like it was dying, and the normally hot Nether felt suddenly cold. The others didn’t sense it, but Geoff froze in the process of killing the Magma Cube, looking out across a gap in the terrain. Everyone followed his line of sight and saw them. Wither Skeletons.

Wither Skeletons were not as bad as their makers, but they were still horrible to face. The remains of the poor victims of Withers, Wither Skeletons drained the life of those around them, leaving their own victims plain, mindless skeletons.

They were safe from the Wither Skeletons for the moment, Geoff knew that, but they wouldn’t be for long. The Wither Skeletons had found a path and were slowly making their way over to the party, and it only took one swipe from their cursed blade to kill a man. Geoff positioned himself between himself and the others and lifted his blade, ready to fight and die to help them escape, a noble if probably not very wise move for a king. Of course, as the worthless piles of blackened bone grew closer, Geoff decided that retreating would be the more prudent course of action.

“Retreat!” He yelled, turning and running for a small cave, with everyone else following him. Once he reached the cave he counted everyone, only to realize, to his horror, that Ryan was not in the cave with them.

“Where’s Ryan?” He asked, looking around desperately. The others looked around too, with Michael risking to look outside of the opening. He gasped, backing up from the opening from what he saw out there. A dragon.

Not a Nether Dragon, like someone would expect to see in The Nether, but a golden Greater Drake, the same sort of dragon that had been seen around the kingdom. It was standing between the cave and the Wither Skeletons, snarling and slamming its tail on the ground. Fire sparked from its jaws, harmlessly licking the Wither Skeletons. This only seemed to enrage the dragon more, who lunged forward, slashing the skeletons apart with its claws and taking flight to pursue the rest. Once the dragon and the skeletons were out of sight the group left the cave, searching for their lost member.

“Ryan!” Geoff yelled, looking for his knight. “Ryan where are you.” After searching for a few minutes they heard coughing coming from another cave off to the side, and Ryan came stumbling out of it.

“Ryan holy shit,” Michael said. “What happened?”

“One of the skeletons cut me off,” he said. “I had to find a different cave.” He panted for a moment, trying to catch his breath. “Let’s get back to the portal. I think I’ve head enough of The Nether for now.” Geoff nodded.

“Yeah,” he said. “Let’s do that.” Nodding in agreement everyone followed their king back to the portal, keeping an eye out for both the skeletons and the dragon.


	3. Rest And Research

After returning from The Nether Geoff decided to give everyone in the castle the next day off, within reason. The cooks still needed to keep everyone fed, and the animals couldn't be allowed to go hungry, but once these mandatory chores were completed everyone was free to spend the day as they pleased. Most of the staff opted to spend it sleeping in while others engaged in hobbies such as painting, music making, and hunting. The Lads and Ryan went down to the river to swim and get drunk, or at least Gavin and Michael drank. Geoff himself spent the day going over his wide variety of crowns, trying to see which one he liked the best, and how best to improve on its design.

While the rest of the castle spent their day off relaxing, Jack made his way up and into the library. With only the light of his torch to light his way he made his way through the rows, looking for the books and scrolls which could help him. When he had located them he pulled them out, slowly forming a pile on a table. Once satisfied with his collection he sat down and started to pour over the texts.

Dragons. That was the topic on everyone's minds, whether they admitted it or not. On Jack's mind especially, as both The Hand and someone who had recently run into dragons not once, not twice, but three times. There was the Ghast killing Nether Dragon and the two golden dragons, which Jack suspected were the same creature.

The Nether Dragon, while an impressive encounter, wasn't overly surprising. Nether Dragons were never common, but in their natural habitat it was expected to run into one every now and then. Especially when you made as many trips into the Nether as Jack did. Thinking back to that encounter he remembered hearing but not seeing a second one, but he could always just assume they lived in groups. Or at least pairs.

No, it was those golden dragons that Jack was focused on. And while he knew humans weren't the best at telling beasts apart, something in his gut told him that those dragons were one in the same. They were both Greater Drakes with pale gold scales, almost the color of sand, and blue eyes. Both were the same size. He didn't know its sex, or its breed, but there was no doubt in Jack's mind that he had seen it twice.

Its breed. That was the first thing Jack wanted to know about the creature. There were different types of dragons in the world, many classified into different species and breeds, and knowing what kind one was dealing with could help someone deal with it. Know if it was dangerous or not.

Opening a book, Jack started to pour through the pages, heading for the section on drakes and greater drakes. He skipped over the subtypes of Ender Dragon, not noticing any of them to be gold. He paused briefly on a race of Greater Drakes called Ildonyr, but soon skipped them as well when he made note that their head shape was all wrong. He skipped Strike Dragons, which were too small, and had rounded heads anyway.

It could be an Ioric, which were varied in shape and abilities, but those were known for their aggression, so Jack soon discounted those as well. Frowning he sat back, looking down at the book with a hopeless expression. None of the known types of Greater Drakes matched the creature he had seen. Which meant either the book was incomplete, which was possible, or he was dealing with a new creature. A hybrid, perhaps.

Giving up on trying to learn what type of dragon he was dealing with, Jack turned his attention instead to how to track and identify a dragon. It had to be hiding somewhere, and Jack wanted to know where. Flipping through the pages of a book detailing dragon hunting, Jack noticed something which made him pause. Dragons, at least some if not all of them, could change their shapes.

With this new detail in his head Jack started to look through the clues of how to identify a hidden dragon, learning that something about them, usually their eye and scale color, stayed with them as they changed. With some the difference would be obvious, but with others it would be much harder to detect. Jack frowned, thinking back to the dragon he was trying to identify. Gold scales and blue eyes. Not exactly uncommon traits in the kingdom, and he couldn't detain every blue eyed blonde and accuse them of being a dragon. Not without more proof.

He continued to read, learning that scars also carried over when a dragon changed their form as well as some other traits such as strength and elemental affinity. Taking out a book and quill he started to mark down identifying traits, noticing as well that animals tended to fear a dragon no matter its form and wondering if he shouldn't put some of Matt's wolves to work.

A bit more satisfied with this new information Jack put the books back and left the library, wondering how he should begin his search for the dragon.


	4. Welcome Back, Cockbites

As the days went by Geoff received a note from the Kings of Roosterteeth, inviting him and his inner circle to dinner. He read over the message a few times, looked at his calendar to see when the best time, wrote a reply, then left his study to tell everyone of their plans.

"Pack up, Bitches!" Geoff yelled as he walked out to the training grounds. "We're visiting Roosterteeth and we're leaving now."

"What, are we delivering them the reply ourselves?" Michael asked, pausing in his attempts to beat Gavin with a wooden sword.

"Real funny, asshole," Geoff said. "Now get ready. I want to go before Gus decides he doesn't want us there." He left, leaving everyone to finish up training and gather their things together. Once everyone was packed, they loaded up their horses, with Ryan taking a horse he had deemed Edgar XII, and set out into the forest.

"How far away is the kingdom?" Ryan asked, looking about the woods.

"Oh we're already in the kingdom," Geoff said. "Our kingdoms border each other, and my castle is near the border. Their castle in in the middle, though, so it's about a day or two journey if we don't stop."

They did stop, of course, mostly when Gavin started to complain and Geoff decided he wanted to get drunk. So they packed up a camp and stayed put for the night before starting ahead in the morning.

"Do you think an Nether Portal could make this trip faster?" Ray asked. "If we had one in our kingdom, then one in theirs, we could cross over in the Nether."

"I'll look into it," Geoff said, clearly having no intention of looking into it. "But we don't need it, we're almost there."

"Only because you gave all out horses Potions of Swiftness," Michael said. Gavin nodded, looking a bit green because of the speed at which they were traveling. But sure enough the castle was soon in view.

It was a massive castle, made from stone brick with pillars of quartz around it. As well as smooth stone. And what looked to be actual brick. Actually, the more Ryan looked at the castle, it looked as though multiple people had designed it, all with different ideas as to what the castle should look like. The flags were black with a red rooster on it, and what appeared to be a severed jaw beneath it. As Ryan looked over the castle, something caught his eye.

"Who's that?" Ryan asked suddenly, pointing towards the castle. Everyone followed his gaze and saw a man standing in the window of one of the towers, looking down on them.

"Hey you!" The man yelled when he saw the traveling group. "Get off my property!" Everyone stopped their horses, and Ryan just blinked a few times.

"Again, who is that?" He repeated, thoroughly confused by the madman in the window telling them to leave.

"That's Gus," Geoff said. "He's one of the kings." He dug his heels into Mystery's side and the horse continued. Everyone followed as well as though this was no big deal, leaving Ryan alone to stare at the king and wonder what sort of new madness this kingdom would hold.

\-------------

After they had placed their horses in the stables they headed into the throne room, which looked just as dysfunctional as the rest of the kingdom. There were two thrones, spaced in such a way that made it seem as though a third one had once sat between them, and two kings were sitting on the the thrones. One was the same madman who had been yelling at them from the window. Beside him was another king, a paternal looking man with curly hair and a short beard. Standing off to the side was a mage, with dark hair and tired eyes.

Ryan shifted from foot to foot, waiting for someone to make the first move. Turns out it was Geoff.

"Hey assholes," he said, walking up to the other kings. "About time you invited me back," he said. "And here I was starting to think our alliance was falling apart."

"Hey," the yelling madman said. "You're the one who ended up in a war with the Endermen. We don't want that."

"Shut up, Gus," Geoff said. "It's not my fault they've been attacking my kingdom."

"Yeah Gus," the other king said. "Give Geoff a break."

"Thank you, Burnie," Geoff said. Ryan watched them for a moment before cautiously clearing his throat. The Lads had already run off, and Jack was speaking with the Mage, but Ryan knew no one here. Geoff looked back at him and went to Ryan, placing an arm around the knight's shoulders.

"This is Ryan," Geoff said. "My newest knight. Ryan, this is King Gustavo Sorola and King Michael Burns. You can just call them Gus and Burnie."

"And this asshole if Joel," Jack said, gesturing to the Mage, who was looking directly at Ryan and, Ryan realized rather suddenly, had been for the entire time. A chill ran down his spine, and he fought the urge to shiver.

"Hey, Ryan," Burnie said, just as friendly as Geoff. "You killed the assassin, right?" The words broke Ryan out of his trance and he turned to face Burnie.

"I did," Ryan said.

"Want a new job?" Gus asked, who also seemed a bit friendlier than his earlier yelling would have suggested. "Our knights suck." Ryan wasn’t sure if the other king was joking or not, but before he could get the chance to answer Geoff spoke up.

“Hey, asshole,” he said. “Get your own knights. This one is mine.” To emphasize his point Geoff threw his arm over Ryan’s shoulder.

“We’ll see about that,” Gus said. Before an argument could start Burnie cleared his throat.

“Hey Ryan why don’t you go unpack,” he said. “Take any of the spare bedrooms you want. We have plenty.”

Ryan didn’t want to seem eager to leave the room, but he was. Something about that Mage had put him off, and he wasn’t sure what it was. Once he was alone in one of the guest rooms he allowed himself to relax for a moment, taking a few deep breaths to clear his head.

“So do they know?” Ryan’s blood went cold; his heart stopping in his chest. He turned slowly, eyes staying fixed on the sorcerer before him. The man was looking him over, as though he could see through Ryan’s false body, and he had been since the dragon had arrived in the castle. It made Ryan tense, but he had pushed it aside. Hoped that it was nothing and that he was just seeing something. But now he knew something was wrong.

“Know what?” He asked, turning as Joel began to circle him, tense and ready to flee or attack if he had to.

“That you’re not human,” he said. “That you’re a dragon.”


	5. Reveal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credit to my friend Caesar for helping me with Joel's dialogue.

“So do they know?” Ryan’s blood went cold; his heart stopping in his chest. He turned slowly, eyes staying fixed on the sorcerer before him. The man was looking him over, as though he could see through Ryan’s false body, and he had been since the dragon had arrived in the castle. It made Ryan tense, but he had pushed it aside. Hoped that it was nothing and that he was just seeing something. But now he knew something was wrong.

“Know what?” He asked, turning as Joel began to circle him, tense and ready to flee or attack if he had to.

“That you’re not human,” he said. “That you’re a dragon.” Ryan swallowed.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said, a bit too quickly. “I’m not a dragon I don’t even know what a dragon is. It’s a type of fish, right?” Joel just raised an eyebrow.

“Okay that…that was just bad. You have to know that,” he said. Ryan exhaled.

“Yeah I know,” he said. He forced himself to relax, a laborious task that left him feeling tenser than before. “What gave it away?” Joel shot him an almost insulted look.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice the gigantic ball of magic when you came in?” He asked. “I’m not the court magician for nothing.”

“Ray hasn’t noticed,” Ryan muttered. Joel looked Ryan over at this, smiling a little.

“Then they don’t know,” he said. Ryan turned to face him, eyes hard.

“No, they don’t,” he hissed. “And they aren’t going to find out. Not from you.” He drew himself to his full height and growled, a sound that grated against his human throat but felt natural and familiar to him. “I’m not going to let you ruin this for me, Joel.”

“Ruin what?” Joel asked. “Why haven’t you told them what you are? Are—are you planning something? Dragon things?”

“Yeah I’m going to eat the princes but I’m waiting for Gavin to gain some weight,” Joel laughed, but Ryan remained tense. “I’m not planning anything. I just want to live my life.”

“So how long have you been a dragon?” Joel asked, and Ryan could only look at him, stunned.

“How..how long…how long have I…oh you know only about three hours,” he taunted. “I must have had some bad bread what the fuck do you mean how long have I been a dragon? I was hatched as one.” Joel raised his hands.

“Hey come on,” Joel said. “You never know there could have been a witch or you could have eaten a dragon’s heart or a magic mushroom or something. I’m just checking.”

“I’ve always been one,” Ryan repeated, trying to ignore what Joel had said about a dragon’s heart. He didn’t want to know what that meant. “Jack and Geoff found me in the woods and offered me a job. I was human at the time because I really didn’t want to get slayed. After that…it sort of got out of hand.”

“You attacked that farm!” Joel said suddenly. “Gold dragon with blue eyes that was you! You caused a lot of cow related problems that night it took hours to find them all and one is still missing.” Ryan coughed, looking off to the side.

“I was trying to get a snack,” he argued. “The barn was too small and it…broke. A lot.” And then Edgar had followed him all the way to Geoff’s castle and now she was happy in her hole. If someone had asked Ryan he would have said it worked out perfectly.

“I still don’t know why you haven’t told them,” Joel said, crossing his arms. “It’s Geoff and Jack. They won’t care.” Ryan bit at his lip.

“I…I can’t trust them,” he confessed. “If I was a man I could but…I’m not. I’m not a man and I’ve never been one. If they find that out they have no reason to treat me as anything but another monster.” He looked at Joel. “So you can’t tell them. You’ll kill me if you do.” Joel didn’t look convinced, but the man shrugged.

“I don’t think that’s true but fine,” he said. “You seem alright so I won’t tell anyone.”

“You better not,” Ryan threatened. It made him feel sick to threaten someone who was such a close ally to Geoff but he had to. He just had to.

“I already said I won’t,” Joel said. “But you should. And sooner rather than later. With that the mage left the room, leaving the dragon to sit and wonder if he was right.

\---------

Dinner was relatively calm, thankfully. Although there was a brief argument between King Gus and King Burnie over whether or not their jester Miles should be thrown in the dungeon. Gus said yes, he should, he wasn’t funny. Burnie had not so subtly told the guards that it was fine, and that had resulted in a rather heated argument.

“He’s not funny!” Gus said. “That story had no ending. A story needs to have an ending.”

“No it doesn’t,” Burnie said. “The story was fine it ended perfectly.”

“Fight, fight, fight,” Joel chanted quietly. “Kiss. Kiss.” While this went on everyone else just watched as though it was no big deal. Even Ryan had calmed down, growing used to the Kings’ antics. Once the fighting stopped, and dinner officially began, everyone lapsed into a calming silence.

Up until Joel started talking.

“So Geoff,” he said. “Jack. What are your plans for the dragon?” The silence that had fallen over the room grew heavy and tense, and Ryan swallowed thickly, glancing over at his king. Geoff sighed, placed his knife and fork down, and spoke.

“Ideally?” He asked. “We’re not going to do anything. Aside from sightings here and there the dragon hasn’t done anything worthy of confrontation.”

“If it tries anything I’ll kill it myself,” Michael said suddenly, standing up on the table and wielding his knife like a sword. “I can take it.” Jack pulled The Lad’s arm, getting him off the table and back down into his chair.

“We’re all sure you could,” he said. “But we would prefer not to. If it’s minding its own business, and it seems to be, then it can live in the kingdom as is.”

“Do you think it’s the same one that let all the cows loose?” Gus asked.

“Oh yeah,” Burnie said. “I forgot about that.”

“It could be,” Jack confessed. “Did you get all the cows back?” He added.

“One is still missing,” Burnie said. “Probably was eaten.”

“What do you think of all this, Ryan?” Joel asked. Asshole. Ryan shot him a covert glare before squaring his shoulders.

“I am willing to defend my king from any threat,” he said. “That includes dragons.”

With everyone satisfied with this discussion they changed the subject, going back to happier topics. But Ryan still couldn’t stop thinking about what had been said, and wonder if Geoff and Jack had meant it. Michael too.


	6. Barb and Meg

After dinner Ryan wanted nothing more than to just return to his room and forget about the discussion. They would be leaving in the morning, and he just wanted to sleep until then. Of course, Michael and Gavin had different plans.

"Come on, Rye," Gavin said, grabbing the knight by the wrist and dragging him towards the door.

"We want you to meet Meg and Barb," Michael said, grabbing the knight's other wrist and dragging him along.

"Who are Meg and Barbara?" Ryan asked as he was dragged outside of the castle and into the moonlit garden.

"We're Meg and Barbara," a voice said. In the garden were two princess, one with red hair and one with blonde hair.

"I'm Meg," the red head said, smiling and waving at Ryan.

"And I'm Barb," the blonde said, with the same voice that had announced that they collectively were Meg and Barbara.

"Hi," Ryan said. "I'm Ryan. So are you Gus' or Burnie's or...?" They shook their heads.

"They're adopted, Ryan," Michael said. "Just like we were." Ryan considered asking why no one in the two kingdoms thought to just get married and have kids instead of adopting random strays to be their heirs, but he decided against it. In either case, Meg had started talking to him, and he had completely missed what she had said.

"What was that?" He asked. "I didn't hear you."

"I said," she started, crossing her arms and trying to look mock annoyed, "if you wanted to see the dragon up close? Because I do. I think it would be impressive."

"Yeah," Michael said. "Aren't dragons supposed to do stuff? This one hasn't done anything except been seen a few times and fight some skeletons."

"Maybe it's DRAGon its feet," Barbara said. There was a long, awkward pause after the pun, which was filled only by the sound of crickets and what Ryan could have sworn was Jack saying "booooooooo" from a distance.

"That was bad, Barb," Michael said.

"Yeah that was bloody awful," Gavin added, nodding in agreement with Michael.

“Maybe you can slay it with puns,” Ryan said, hoping that Barbara never actually tried that because he may actually contemplate letting it kill him.

“It’s not my best,” Barbara confessed, just as the ground started to rumble. Everyone paused, looking around, just as a massive, jawed rose burst out from the ground, snarling at the group.

“Fuck a duck!” Gavin said, leaping into Michael’s arms. Michael dropped him almost instantly and grabbed his sword, charging at the monstrous flower. Ryan drew his own sword and followed Michael.

“What the Hell is this thing?” Ryan asked, stabbing the stem.

“I’m guessing it’s something Joel and Ray made,” Michael said, trying to hack off the head.

“Why did they make it?” Ryan asked.

“Accident?” Michael said, shrugging sheepishly. The rose hissed, trying to grab them, but Gavin had finally gotten over his shock and was shooting arrows into it, keeping it distracted while Michael and Ryan hacked off its head. It gave a death rattle as it died, leaking sap all over the garden.

Everyone decided to go inside after that. After they burned all the roses in the garden first. Just to be safe.


	7. Shooting The Breeze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: This chapter is shorter than I wanted, but I sort of ran out of steam on it, due to a new job. The next ones will be better.

While The Burning of the Roses was taking place, Geoff and Jack were in the throne room with Burnie and Gus, catching up on old times.

“Are you two sure you don’t want to rejoin our kingdom?” Burnie asked. “Three kings are better than two, and Jack you’re a better Hand than Matt is.”

“Hey,” Matt said, since apparently everyone had forgotten that he was in the room.

“Matt is a fine hand,” Jack said, having his fellow Hand’s back.

“And I don’t want to have to share my kingdom with you assholes,” Geoff said. “You can’t try and get me back just because I’ve expanded and you haven’t.”

“We’ve expanded plenty,” Gus said. “We’ve been working on forging alliances with both The Remnant and The Kingdom of Funhaus.”

“Not The Kingdoms of Crimson and Azul?” Geoff asked, causing Burnie and Gus to both groan.

“Geoff if you came back we could just ally with The Kingdom of Crimson already,” Gus said.

“Why haven’t you?” Geoff asked. “Matt is on your side with that, right?”

“Matt isn’t king,” Burnie said, cutting in, “and he doesn’t get a say. And I say that The Kingdom of Azul is a better choice for an ally. You met that madman that The Kingdom of Crimson has as their king. Besides, Joel supports The Kingdom of Azul with me.”

“At least they only have one king,” Gus said. “Who knows who’s in charge of Azul now. It could be that Joel look alike for all we know.”

“You could ally with them both,” Jack suggested. “They’re barely at war with each other anymore.” Everyone glanced over at Jack, their eyes serious.

“Don’t even joke about that,” Geoff said. “Those two sides would never get along.”

“Not even to fight some sort of magically enhanced warrior,” Gus said. “Possessed by a multitude of malign spirits.” Jack shut up after that, and allowed them to continue their arguing.

It wasn’t until later that news arrived. A messenger from Achievement Kingdom arrived by horse, worn out and half dead. They rushed him inside, tended to him, and barely managed to make out his message. The Endermen had attacked.

Geoff sent out word at once, rounding everyone up. With few parting words, they set out for home and for battle at once.


	8. Berserk

Battle was where Michael thrived. Let no one tell you otherwise. Though the Endermen were fierce and difficult opponents, able to jump away from you if you attacked them, they were not invincible.

Some had discovered a trick, that if you stared at their feet they were trapped and could not move away. No one knew how or why this trick worked, only that it did. As a result, many clever warriors had incorporated it into their fighting style.

Michael, however, had not. He had a simpler solution. He lost himself to his battle fury, and slew anything that came within slashing range of him. It worked for wolves, zombies, and creepers, and now it worked for Endermen. Oh sure, they could escape him, but none could attack him and expect to live.

Being a berserker was an interesting thing, and Michael would have told others about it had it ever occurred to him that he should. Everyone said he lost his senses, and in a way that was true. His vision went a blinding red and his ears rang with the sound of his own pumping blood. Indeed, he was blind to much around him.

But on the other hand, so many senses became much more clearer. He could smell the blood and fear of his enemies, almost taste it, even, and he always knew when others were about. No one could sneak up on him, and like instinct he cut down those who had tried. Michael was a terror on the battle field, and everyone knew to avoid him.

\----------

The attack was smaller than Geoff had been led to believe, and something felt wrong about it. They could all sense it, something was off. It almost felt as though someone was baiting them, trying to get them to either follow or wearing them down for a stronger attack later on.

Most worrying of all was that, as soon as this attack had appeared, all the surviving Endermen vanished, deserting the battlefield.

“Suck my knob!” Gavin yelled, shooting an arrow at a vanishing Endermen. “And don’t come back!” Ray appeared beside him in a puff of rose petals and the two brother high-fived before Gavin went over to Michael.

“That was top, Boi,” he said, lifting his hand to pat Michael on the back. He didn’t see the red in Michael’s eyes until it was too late.

But Ryan had.

Ryan had noticed the danger, and had acted in an instant, putting himself between Michael and Gavin. And when Michael raised his sword high to strike down whomever had dared touch him, it was Ryan who had received the blow, the diamond blade slashing him from shoulder to hip. He cried out and collapsed, the last thing he seeing was the senses returning to Michael just in time to realize what he had done.


	9. Monster

Ryan was dying. Ryan was dying, and it was all Michael’s fault.

He had come out of his fury only seconds after he had cut Ryan down. Only seconds too late to stop the blow. It was horrible. He could see Ryan’s bone and the slight glistening of his organs through the slash in his armor. Geoff had pulled The Lad off of the of the dying knight while Jack had lifted Ryan as tenderly as he could and hurried him to Caleb. Now all they could do was wait. And wait. And wait.

Something was wrong. Ryan wasn’t healing as fast as he should, not with all the potions Caleb was pumping into him. Even Jeremy had stopped his wasteful use of invisibility potions in favor of gathering supplies for healing potions. But Ryan still seemed to be dying, almost as though he was fighting with himself.

“I can’t take it anymore!” Michael snarled, clawing at his hair. “Why won’t the potions just heal him already?! Why isn’t he getting better?!” He was pacing in the smithy with Jack, who was hard at work making Geoff a mourning crown, in case the worst happened. At Michael’s outburst, however, Jack sighed and stopped, turning to Michael.

“There’s only so much the potions can do,” he said sadly. “Sometimes, they just don’t work. Ryan was badly injured...he may not make it.” Michael looked crushed at this statement, and he sagged, sinking down into a nearby chair.

“Why do you even let me out onto the battlefield?” He asked The Hand. “I’m a monster.”

Jack was at the boy’s side in an instant, his hands on his prince’s shoulder. “No,” he said, forcefully but without any anger in his voice. “You’re not a monster. You’re a berserker, but that doesn’t make you a monster. Accidents happen, accidents will always happen.”

“But Ryan....!” Michael started, only to have Jack cut him off with a firm shake of his head.

“Ryan isn’t dead yet,” he said. “He’s not doing well, but there’s still hope. And just because you caused this accident, doesn’t mean anything. Think of all the monstrous plants Ray has made, or the times Gavin, has shot Geoff. Or how often Geoff has almost blown the city up. Accidents happen. From everyone.”

Michael was quiet for a moment before nodding.

“Thanks Jack,” he said, getting up. ‘I’m...I’m going to go check on Ryan.” He left the forge, heading up to go see how the knight was doing.


	10. Forgiven

When Michael reached Ryan's room he stopped outside of the door, too anxious to knock or go in. He was about to turn and leave when the door opened and Caleb stepped out.

"Oh, hey," he said. "You're here to see Ryan?" Michael nodded, trying to look anywhere but at Caleb's face.

"Yeah," he said. "Is he awake? Is he alright?"

"He's awake, and the potions seem to finally be taking," Caleb said, and Michael released the breath he didn't know he had been holding. "You can go in and talk to him if you want. Look out for Edgar, though."

"Edgar?" Michael asked. "His fucking cow is in there too?" Unbelievable. Ryan was on his deathbed, had the entire castle scared half to death, and he had his fucking cow with him like it was a dog. Gavin was right, Ryan was mental.

"She refuses to leave his side," Caleb said with a shrug. "But I'm done checking up on him for now, and since he's awake you can visit him. I think it would do you both some good. The first thing he asked when he woke up was how everyone else was doing."

"Oh," Michael said. "Alright. I'll go talk to him." It's why he had come all this way to begin with. As Caleb left Michael stepped up to the door and opened it. Laying in his bed, slightly sitting up and with a cow by his side, was Ryan. His chest was heavily bandaged, and the fabric was stained red with blood. But when he saw Michael, he smiled.

“Hey,” Ryan said, sitting up further with a wince. “I was wondering when I’d see you?” Michael had numerous ways of coping with seeing the man he had almost murdered alive and relatively well, so of course he chose sarcasm.

“Wondering when you’d see me?” He asked. “You’ve been asleep for days! We’ve all been wondering when we’d see you!” The fake smile he had forced onto his face slipped away and he swallowed. “I’m sorry, Ryan,” he said, starting to tear up. “I’m so...so sorry....” Ryan motioned for Michael to come closer and he did, only to be pulled onto the knight’s lap.

“It’s alright,” Ryan said gently. “I know you didn’t mean to hurt me. You can’t help what you are.”

“I can try, though,” Michael said. “I need to try harder to control it. I can’t hurt anyone else again. I almost killed you, I’ve almost blinded Ray, I almost killed Jack and Geoff and Gavin. I need to fucking stop.”

“You can do it, Michael,” Ryan said. “It won’t be easy but I know you can. But you can’t beat yourself up over this. Okay?” Michael was silent for a moment before nodding.

“Okay,” he said. “And get better soon, asshole. Geoff is already planning for your funeral. He had Jack make him a new crown and everything.” Ryan laughed at that, and Michal smiled as well.

“I’ll be alright,” Ryan said. “Just give me a week or so and I’ll be back to my old self.”


	11. The Start of The End

Everyone in the castle had hoped that Ryan would recover to a moment of peace, including Ryan himself. They all could use a moment a peace. But, unfortunately, fate had other plans.

When Ryan was recovered yet still worn, the Endermen struck again, in great numbers, attacking a small town near the castle. Most kings would have ignored the attack in favor of strengthening their own defenses, but not Geoff. He was tired of these attacks, tired of his people having to live in fear. He had sworn to protect them, and so he would.

Gathering up his entire army, every warrior and knight he could get to him in time, he marched out to face the Endermen, intent on ending this fight once and for all.

\----------

Ryan's heart pounded in his ear as he fought his way through the Endermen. Killing them was hard, they kept teleporting away, almost like they were toying with him. And even when he did manage to make a kill, it seemed two more took the place of their fallen fellow. They were taunting him, and it was making him angry. Worse, it was making him tired. Every attack drained more and more of his strength, and he could feel his True Form aching to slip free. It would be so much easier to fight these things as a dragon, both easier to kill them and less tiring. But he couldn't. He had spent so much time earning everyone's trust, so much time hiding what he was, that he wouldn't let these bastards ruin it for him. He'd die before he'd let that happen.

There was a deep slash across his back and he cried out in pain. Maybe he would die today after all.

\----------

Michael saw the Endermen slash at Ryan and felt his blood start to boil.

No, he thought. Not again. Ryan had nearly died once before, Michael wouldn’t let it happen again. Letting his rage come over him, Michael entered a frenzy and lunged, raising his sword high and cutting through the Endermen which stood between him and the knight. He would save Ryan. He would. Even if he died trying.

The Endermen saw the new threat and turned from Ryan towards Michael. They would kill this young pest before returning to the lesser threats. That was their plan, at least, but while they were distracted a series of arrows touched down around them, before bursting into a series of attacking roses.

\----------

Gavin and Ray were back to back when they say the Endermen close in on Michael.

“X-Ray,” Gavin said. “Can you enchant my arrows? Let me send an army of our own out to help my Boi?” Ray nodded, and touched Gavin’s quiver, red petals moving from his finger tips and into the arrows.

“Should work now, Vav,” Ray said. Gavin nodded, and let the arrows fly. A few killed the Endermen outright, while others struck the ground and transformed into a series of massive, aggressive roses. They attacked the Endermen, wrapping them up in thorny, constricting vines, and crushing the life from most of them. Seeing that they were losing, the Endermen turned to flee the battlefield.

\----------

As the Endermen began to retreat, it was Jack who delivered the final blow that Geoff's army needed to maybe finally win the war. The Enderman who had been taunting him got in close, too close, and with a single blow of his armored fist Jack had knocked the creature out.

No Horse Puncher, but not bad for a simple blacksmith.

\----------

Once the Endermen had retreated, Geoff called his troops together, with Jack bringing the unconscious Enderman.

“Ray,” Geoff asked. “Can you wake it up?” Ray nodded and cast a spell, the scent of roses filling the air. Soon the Enderman came too, but could not teleport away due to Michael staring at his feet. A little known weakness of Endermen, but one of the few ways to defeat them.

“Who are you working for?” Geoff asked. The Enderman laughed, still trying to get away.

“The Director will kill you all,” it said. “And if he fails, our God will devour everything you hold dear. You may have defeated me, but we have reserves. We’ll strike back, as much as The Director commands.” With that he tried to teleport away, though Michael’s gaze held him in place. When Michael blinked, however, part of the Enderman’s magic worked, and bits and pieces of it teleported away, leaving it a purple stain on the ground. Gavin spun around to throw up while Jack looked down in disgust.

“What now?” Ryan asked, looking to Geoff.

“It’s simple,” Geoff said. “We find this, Director, and kill him.”


	12. The Director

Tracking the man down was not easy. Endermen tended to teleport instead of fleeing, but with a little help from Ray, and some mentoring from Joel, they found a way to track their teleporting, which led the group of warriors to a tall tower.

It was heavily guarded with Endermen and Golems, as well as little flitting spirits of various colors. Geoff had his army pause while he tried to assess the threat.

There was a huge Golem, which looked just as much man as iron, around which most of the spirits seemed to congregate, sometimes entering it sometimes not. That would be the biggest threat, a melding of man and machine controlled by those things. The Endermen would be the next greatest threat, though the normal Golems would not be easy either. Geoff cursed quietly under his breath, unsure what to do.

“I have a plan,” Jack said finally, noticing his King’s unease. “Presumably, this Director is at the top of the tower. If Ray could make a rope, Gavin could shoot an arrow into a nearby window, and we could climb it up, avoiding most of these monsters. I doubt the Golems can climb.” Geoff thought this over for a moment before nodding.

“Ray?” He asked. “Can you do that?”

“I can do better than that,” Ray said. He took an arrow out from Gavin’s quiver and enchanted it, turning the arrow a black color. “Now all he has to do is fire this, and it will change itself into a rope. Or a rose vine. Either or.” This caused everyone to laugh, which to be honest they needed. They needed to release some tension.

Gavin took the arrow and fired it up into the window. Sure enough, a dark green vine with black roses curled down the tower, giving them something to climb. But the Endermen saw, and began to attack.

“Hold them off!” Geoff called to his army as him, Jack, Ryan, and The Lads started to climb up the vines.

Once they reached the inside of the tower they headed up the stairs, assuming that The Director would be at the top. Sure enough, when they reached the end and threw open the door, there stood a man over a book of spells. He looked older, with a short beard surrounding his face, and a malicious glint in his eye.

“Hello King Geoffrey,” he said, sounding calm. “I must say, I was wondering when you would come to face me in person. Our back and forths were growing...tedious.” He looked at those who had accompanied Geoff before his eyes came to rest upon Ryan. “They don’t know, do they?” Ryan felt his blood run cold, and he cursed himself. If Joel had been able to tell, then of course this man would be able to as well.

“Know what?” Geoff hissed, both furious as the enemy mage and curious as to what he could be talking about.

“That your new knight is a d-” Before he could finish his sentence Ryan lunged forward, driving his sword through the man’s heart. Or at least he tried to. The second the blade past through the man he became incorporeal, laughing.

“They’ll find out eventually,” he told Ryan, before vanishing. And, judging from the sounds outside, it seemed as though his entire army had vanished with him.

“What the hell was that?” Geoff asked. “What was he going to tell us?” Ryan shook his head, not even able to come up with a lie.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I think he was just trying to get into our heads.”

“Wouldn’t put it past him,” Michael said bitterly, pissed that they hadn’t gotten the chance to kill the man. Everyone else mumbled, agreeing that any man who would use an army of Endermen to attack them wouldn’t be above turning them against each other with lies.

“Now what?” Gavin asked.

“I guess we head home,” Geoff said, sounding defeated. “Maybe he won’t attack for a while. Everyone frowned and nodded, equally defeated. But at least next time, they could be more prepared.


	13. Change

When Ryan finally reached his room he was exhausted. Between the battles and his injuries it was an accomplishment that he was even able to stand. He dropped down heavily onto his bed and exhaled, laying back onto the comforter and closing his eyes.

It was then that he started to feel hot, too hot, for his human body. His eyes snapped open and he lifted his hands up in front of his face, gazing in horror as they began to shift into claws.

No, he thought, panicked. He realized too late that he had not drank his potions in a while, not since his injury.

Scrambling to his feet he headed straight for his chest, looking to see if he had any of the potions in there. But it was too late. He cried out as his body forced itself back into its draconic form, as his tail grew and wings sprouted from his back. His body size increased, and ultimately he was too large for his room, the thrashing of his tail and wings beating open a hole in the wall. His cry of pain changed to a roar, and when the whole thing was finished a massive, golden dragon was left standing where the knight had been. His legs shook, struggling to support his bulk, and finally he just dropped to his stomach, groaning. He struggled to his feet once more, and tried to force himself back into his human body, but to no avail. It just wasn’t working. He was just too tired.

“Ryan?” A voice said from the doorway, stunned. The dragon turned his head and saw Michael standing there, sword drawn. The Lad had heard the commotion and had come running, worried about the knight. Now that he had reached Ryan’s room, what he saw was horrifying. Standing in the center of the destroyed room was a massive dragon, the same one that had been spotted in the kingdom. The same one no one thought was a threat. Ryan was nowhere to be seen, the only his torn and bloody clothes visible beneath the feet of the dragon.

Gavin and Ray reached the room right as Michael lunged, sword drawn, attempting to slay the monster. Gavin shook himself out of his shock and drew his bow, shooting arrows into the beast but doing little more than punching a hole or two into its wings. Michael was far more successful, getting in some deep cuts, and even managing to slash at the wing joint of one of its wings. Ray simply stood there, stunned.

Ryan, for his part, was trying his best to shake Michael off without injuring The Lad. As it was, his blood burned the stone around them, and scored deep, burning marks where it struck Michael’s flesh. Every new cut earned a pained roar from the dragons and, finally, he bucked and flung Michael off, turning to flee the building just as Jack and Geoff arrived.

“What’s going on here?!” Geoff snapped. Michael turned, fuming and near tears.

“The dragon,” he said, pointing his sword at the king. “The one **_you_ ** didn’t think we had to worry about, killed Ryan!” He motioned around the room, making sure Geoff could see the destruction. “We need to go after it!”

Geoff was silent for a moment, thinking. Finally, he nodded.

“Jack,” he said. “Take The Lads and capture the dragon if you can. Kill it if you must, but I want it to stand trial for what it did.”

Jack, who had been looking around at the destruction, nodded.


	14. Dragon Hunt

The mood hanging around the party was grim as they rode their horses into the forest, hunting after the dragon which had killed Ryan. At first, they followed the trail of blood, which left scorch marks in the earth wherever it fell. But soon, footprints started to appear, giving them both an easier to follow trail and alerting them to the fact that the dragon had now landed.

“We’re getting closer,” Michael snapped at the others. “If it had to land, then it’s weakened, and we can kill it if we have it grounded.” He was a man possessed, obsessed only with finding and slaying the dragon which had murdered Ryan. He dug his heels into Hidalgo’s side and the horse reared back before taking off deeper into the forest.

Gavin was tense, bow drawn back, ready to let an arrow fly the second he had to. Before they had left he had asked Jack the best place to shoot a dragon, and had learned to aim for the eyes. The Lad had gagged at that, but was intent on following through. He would do it if he had to, even if he emptied his stomach afterwards. For Ryan.

Ray was just silent. Stunned. Ryan was gone, murdered by a dragon, and while his fellow Lads had attacked it all he could do was stare. All he could still do was stare at the ground, stunned.

As for Jack, his mind was a whirl with disjointed thoughts and memories of what he had read about dragons, with all of them coming to the same conclusion. Something wasn’t right, and none of this made sense. The destruction in the room was all wrong, he should know, he helped build the castle, and the behavior of the dragon didn’t seem right.

So far, he knew only two things about this attack. The first was that the dragon had broken into the castle and killed Ryan. The second was that, after this, the dragon fled the moment it was attacked. This struck Jack as unusual. Why not attack Michael as well, if it was so aggressive?

And this sudden aggression wouldn’t make sense for it’s previous behavior. It had never seemed aggressive before, more cautious than anything else, so why suddenly attack the castle just to kill one knight? Unless...

Unless it and Ryan were in some way connected. That would make sense. The dragon only started appearing after Ryan had, maybe he had a history with it. Maybe he had been on the run from the dragon this whole time. But if so, why not tell the rest of them. Unless...

Jack’s eyes went wide for a moment, but before he could say anything Michael had spotted a flash of gold and had jumped from his horse, pursing the dragon on foot. Gavin and Ray joined him and, cursing, Jack was forced to go as well, if only to stop Michael from making a mistake.

\-------

Ryan had flown for as far and as long as his aching muscles and torn wings could carry him, until finally his injuries had forced him onto the ground. He continued to flee after that, dragging his wings behind him. He needed to escape, needed to get out of the kingdom. Once he was far enough he could find a cave or a lake to hide in, to heal and recover before he could leave for another kingdom, maybe another continent even. Maybe he would just flee to the Nether.

It made his heart ache to think that he would need to leave his home, need to leave his friends. But now that they knew what he was, there was no way they’d accept him. Michael had attacked him in an instant, and he had to leave, he just had to.

He reached a particularly dense patch of trees and, with great agony, opened his wings. He’d have to fly the rest of the way, this forest was too dense for him to travel through on foot.

“There it is!” He heard Michael’s voice yell, enraged. Ryan froze and turned, finding himself face to face with Jack and The Lads. He growled, arching his back like an over-sized cat, and spat out some fire, not enough to hurt any of them, just enough to drive them back. It didn’t work, with Michael jumping through the flames and Ray whipping up a wind of rose petals to sweep the fire aside. Gavin drew his bow back taunt and took aim for the dragon’s eye. Ryan snarled again, still hoping to scare them off. He reared back on his hind legs, his scales glinting in the sun, revealing a scar...

“Stop!” Jack yelled, throwing himself between The Lads and the dragon. Michael stopped dead in his tracks, sword still held high. Gavin paused, holding the bow taunt, and Ray’s rose petals died down.

“Jack, what are you doing?!” Michael demanded. “That monster killed Ryan!”

“No,” Jack said, shaking his head. The Hand was breathing heavily, as was the dragon he was protecting. “He **_is_ ** Ryan.”


	15. Confessions

“What are you talking about?!” Michael demanded. To Michael and his fellow Lads, Jack was speaking madness. What did he _mean_ the dragon was Ryan?! The dragon had **killed** Ryan! “This thing can’t be Ryan, Ryan is dead!”

“You don’t have any proof of that,” Jack said. “But I can prove that he’s Ryan. We need to bring him back to Geoff, he needs to hear this too, but I can promise you that he’s Ryan.”

“How?” Ray asked. “I mean, if he was Ryan, wouldn’t we have known?”

“You’re bloody mental,” Gavin said. “Ryan can’t be a dragon, he isn’t a dragon.”

“How do you know?” Jack asked. “Would you tell anyone if you were?” The Lads shut up after that, not convinced, but no longer sure of their quest.

“Give us some evidence,” Michael said finally. “We’ll trust you, but first give us something to know that we can believe it.”

“Look at its chest,” Jack said, challenging Michael. “Look at the dragon’s chest, and tell me I’m wrong.” Michael did just that, his eyes growing wide when he gazed upon the scar. It could be nothing, probably was nothing, but something about it chilled his blood and he nodded.

“Alright,” he said. “We’ll take him back to Geoff.” Thinking of the dragon as a male, as a him, came far to naturally for Michael’s tastes. He liked it better when it was just an animal. “But if he tries anything, I’m killing him.” Jack nodded.

“Alright,” he said. “That’s fair.”

They used rope they had brought to bind the dragon, tying his wings to his back and muzzling him. His legs were tied together as well, just enough to allow him to walk, and a lead was fastened around his neck. He kept his eyes downcast, not daring to look at any of them. Michael took the lead, both in terms of the rope and in terms of the group. He was intent on bringing this beast back to Geoff as soon as possible, intent on figuring out exactly what had happened.

——–

When they reached Geoff, and Jack told him his theory, the king shouted in shock and outrage.

“Are you insane?!” Geoff said, his mustache just as angry as the king.

“That’s what I said!” Gavin said. Matt, Jeremy, and Lindsay were there, standing by Geoff’s side and looking unconvinced. Lindsay looked furious. Jack sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I know it seems hard to believe,” he said. “But I have proof. Just let me give it to you.” Geoff looked at him for a moment, then looked to the dragon, then looked back to Jack. Jack had been his Hand for years, since he had founded the kingdom, and he knew that if Jack had a hunch, he had it for a reason.

“Thank you,” Jack said. Jack took a deep breath and started talking.

“I have been doing some research on dragons,” he explained. “Ever since the dragon was sighted within the kingdom boarders. What their weakness are, their strengths, and most importantly, how to identify them. Here’s what I found.”

“Dragons almost always have a tell, usually their scale and eye color. When they change, their eyes stay the same color, and their scale color translates into their hair, hide, feathers, or fur.” He swallowed, motioning towards the dragon. “This dragon has sandy scales and blue eyes. Like Ryan does.”

“That doesn’t prove anything,” Geoff said.

“No,” Jack agreed. “It doesn’t. But it’s a start. This dragon has been sighted numerous times, and has never attacked us. In fact, it’s helped us before, for seemingly no reason. It also appeared not long after Ryan did, and only on the days Ryan had off. The days of the New Moon.” Everyone looked uneasy at this revelation. “Further more, a dragon’s abilities would explain Ryan’s strength, and his resistance to heat. And there’s one more thing.” He motioned to the dragon’s chest, where a scar cut it from shoulder to hip. “Scars stay as well.” Geoff was silent for a moment before speaking.

“If he is Ryan,” he asked, “why hasn’t he changed back yet?”

“I think,” Jack said, “he’s too injured to. I don’t know how the injuries translate exactly, but I do know humans don’t have wings and tails.” Geoff looked at the dragon for a long while, taking in its wounds as he stroked his mustache, before turning to his knights.

“Go get Caleb,” he said. “Tell him to bring Splash Potions of Healing. We’ll heal him just enough to change, and then see who this dragon really is.” Jeremy, Lindsay, and Matt nodded, heading off to go find the healer.

When Caleb entered the throne room, he was carrying a pouch of splash potions, looking uneasy at the dragon in the room.

“Aim for the wings and tail,” Geoff commanded, and Caleb nodded, doing just that. The wounds closed slowly, though the rest of the dragon remained weak and injured, and once he was satisfied Geoff lifted up a hand, telling Caleb to cease.

“Now then,” he said, looking at the dragon. “Whomever you are, dragon, shift. That is an order.” There was a moment when the dragon did nothing, when no one did anything. Until, finally, it started to shift, its body shrinking, its wings and tail retracting into its body until, finally, Ryan was kneeling before the king.


	16. So Now What?

The room was silent for a moment, with everyone just staring at Ryan, unsure what to do. Everyone was stunned by this revelation, their minds alternating between racing and blank, with many of them, Michael in particular, feeling guilt at the fact that they had nearly murdered Ryan. Jack seemed pleased at least that he was right, but now he wasn't certain how Geoff would react. No one was. Until, finally, after what seemed an eternity, Geoff spoke.

"Dude cover yourself," Geoff said, taking off his cape and tossing it to Ryan, who took the offered fabric and wrapped it around himself. "Then start talking." Ryan took a deep breath and exhaled it shakily, wetting his lips and looking unsure where to start.

"I'm a dragon," he said finally, before pausing and trying to figure out how to continue. "That's...that's sort of it."

"How?" Geoff asked. "Is it a curse, a spell, potion, enchanted item? Anything like that?" There was a hopeful edge to his voice, but Ryan just shook his head.

"I'm just a dragon," he said. "Have been since I hatched. You're looking at a pure blooded, one hundred percent, dragon." Geoff looked down at him before nodding.

"Start from the beginning," he said. "That is an order. Dragon or not, you're still my knight. For now." Ryan shuddered, looking down, before starting.

"I am the dragon that attacked the farm," he said. "I was trying to get a snack and it...didn't work out very well. I panicked, shifted into a human to escape, and then you and Jack found me. Offered me a job and I didn't know how to say no. Then it just sort of...snowballed from there?" Geoff regarded Ryan in silence for a moment before speaking again. The long pauses were making Ryan anxious, it was clear to everyone in the room, but no one could exactly blame Geoff either. It wasn't every day you find out your knight is a dragon.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Geoff said. Ryan swallowed, looking uncertain.

 _Because he was afraid of us,_ Michael realized in mute horror. Ryan hadn't told them what he was because he was afraid of them. And to be honest, Michael couldn't find it in him to blame the man. The dragon? It didn't matter. What did matter was that they had made Ryan fear for his life just for being what he was.

Michael thought back to his own eagerness to fight the dragon, to his declaration at Roosterteeth about how he would kill the dragon himself if it had tried anything. A declaration he had made right in front of Ryan. Right in front of the man-dragon he had been so eager to fight. Of course Ryan would keep it a secret. They had given him no reason to believe that they would accept him.

Ryan swallowed again, looking up at Geoff, before speaking. "I thought you would kill me if you knew," he said.

"Why would you think that?" Geoff asked, sounding offended.

“Well,” Ryan started, “you did order Jack to make that special dragon slaying sword.” The room went quiet as everyone turned and looked at the king, who had turned rather red and coughed awkwardly.

“Well...” Geoff stammered. “That was just...precautions, you know? Misunderstanding. Not a threat or...Jack! Destroy the sword!” Jack let out an audible groan. Not because he wanted to have a dragon slaying sword, especially not when the only dragon around was Ryan and their friend, but because he had worked long and hard on that sword, and didn’t look forward to all that work going to waste. Maybe he could salvage it into nice cutlery. Ryan sighed, relaxing a bit.

“Thanks, Geoff,” he said. “Sorry I’ve been lying to you this whole time.”

“It’s fine,” Geoff said. “Except for one thing. And I’m pissed at you about this.” Ryan frowned.

“What?” He asked.

“I could have been riding a dragon into battle this whole time!” Geoff shouted, earning a laugh from everyone except the stunned Ryan. “Do you know how awesome that would have been?! It would have been awesome as dicks!”

“He does have a good point,” Jack said, once he had stopped laughing. “A dragon could have done us some good in battles.” Ryan just sort of shrugged.

“Maybe next time?” He said. This gave Geoff pause, who looked down at Ryan.

“Good point,” he said. “What do we do from here on out? Everyone knows a dragon killed you, so you can’t just show up again.” A hushed silence fell over the room as Geoff considered what to do. He didn’t care that Ryan was a dragon, really he didn’t, but he knew how the nobility would act, and there would be a scandal if they learned a dragon was a knight of the kingdom. And Ryan couldn’t exactly return from the dead, either.

“I’ve got it!” Geoff said at last. “We’ll tell everyone that Ryan was killed by a dragon but I, the brave and brilliant King Geoff subdued and tamed the beast, and now he’s serving me in Ryan’s stead. What do you think?”

Ryan hated it. He hated the idea of not being allowed to be Ryan anymore. Not being able to spend time with The Lads as their knight, or to walk into town, or see what armor Jack was working on for him.

But at the same time, being a dragon was appealing. He’d be able to fly and swim without worry.

Finally, with a sigh, he nodded.

“Deal.”


	17. Life As A War Machine

Ryan missed his bed.

Sure, Geoff was not cruel to him, even if the majority of the kingdom thought that he was little more than a monster, Geoff and his closest knew the truth and still tried to treat Ryan like Ryan, only bigger. As such, Geoff had ordered Jack to build Ryan a house on the castle grounds, made from stone brick to prevent fires, and line the floor with wool and straw, with the occasional bit of gold and silver. Admittedly it was a very nice house, and Ryan was glad he no longer had to hide what he was, but he missed his bed.

Ultimately, that's probably what the problem was. Yes, Ryan was a dragon. But in the past few months he had become more than just a dragon. He had become Ryan, knight of King Geoff, but now he was no longer allowed to embrace himself. It was funny, in an odd way. When he was a knight he missed being a dragon, and as a dragon he missed being a knight.

With a huff Ryan got up and walked out of his stone house, deciding to go for a walk around the gardens to clear his head. The one good thing about being the king's pet war dragon was that he didn't have much to do on a day to day basis. Which is another thing he missed. He liked serving Geoff every day.

As Ryan made his way through the castle grounds numerous servants stopped to either gawk at him or flee out of his way. Though Geoff had assured them that the dragon was perfectly tame, even going so far as to make up some bullcrap about kings and dragons and vows and the order of things, many of the castle staff, all the ones who did not know Ryan's true identity, feared the dragon as some sort of monster. The one good thing was that none of them dared attack him, not yet at least. To do so would anger Geoff, and possibly incur the wrath of the dragon itself.

To be fair, Ryan couldn't really blame any of them. As far as they knew, he had attacked the castle, devoured a knight many of them got along with, and then fled only to be brought back in binds. How else were they supposed to react, but with fear and loathing. He was playing the part of a tamed monster, so why wouldn't everyone think that's what he was.

It didn't help that he couldn't talk to them, either. A dragon's throat was suited to roars and snarls, and they have built a language around that. But human tongues needed more finesse than that, and while dragons could speak with their minds, Ryan had never practiced that, and doing so could risk breaking a human mind. So for the time being, he was stuck as a mute monster as well as a tamed one.

When Ryan finally reached the small pond at the center of the garden he flopped down next to it with a heavy sigh and closed his eyes, trying to relax and clear his head. He didn't like thinking about all of this, he just wished things could go back to the way they had been, before everyone had known he was a dragon.

At that moment, just as he was spiraling down into that unpleasant train of thought, an invisibility potion was thrown from nowhere, splashing down onto the dragon and nearly completely coating his scales. Where there had once been a dragon a blank space now remained, with only the occasional wisp of magic left to indicate what anything was there at all.

Ryan couldn't even muster up the will to be annoyed. Despite everything that had happened, and despite the fear of the general populace, those who knew who he truly was, those who knew he was Ryan, still treated him as their old friend, even if he was not technically a dragon. Sure, they had been shocked at first, but they had all adapted far faster than he had expected, especially if Jeremy's continued pranks were any indication.

Ryan had just nodded off when the castle bells began to ring. He was on his feet in an instant and already headed for the throne room. He knew what that bell meant, and it wasn't good.

The Endermen were attacking another part of the kingdom, and Geoff was calling the troops for battle.


	18. Draconian Might

Ryan wasn't sure what type of dragon he was. Oh, he knew he was a Greater Drake, obviously, since he had four legs and wings, but as for what specific type, what species he was, he had no idea. While he had met a few dragons he had never met one quite like him, and even Jack's research into the libraries had given no answers. The Hand had finally settled on the idea that Ryan must be some sort of hybrid, probably with Ioric ancestry.

Ryan didn't really care one way or the other, to be honest. What mattered to him was that he was a dragon at all, and what sort of things he could do. He could fly, he could breathe under water, he could shape shift into any animal, he could breathe fire.

And, while he was still mastering this, he could summon and unleash bolts of lightning. Something that the attacking Endermen were currently learning the hard way.

Lightning crackled between Ryan's horns, talons, and jaws, charging and building up for the attack. A static charge hung in the air, and when he was ready he unleashed it on a group of Endermen, the lightning bursting from his entire body and striking the center of the group. A few had managed to teleport away before the attack, but the rest were hit dead on, their bodies catching alight as the lightning struck them.

Satisfied that that group would not be bothering anyone anymore Ryan turned, heading for another group which were in the process of overpowering some of Geoff's forces. He dropped down heavily between the attacking Endermen and his allies and snarled, fire erupting from his jaws and immolating the attackers. The few who escaped the inferno soon found themselves facing the jaws of a dragon, their deep violet blood soaking his fangs.

From across the battle field Geoff let out a low whistle. He knew dragons could be fierce fighters, but he had never even dreamed that having a dragon on their side would make the war this easy. Ryan was skilled at killing the enemy while also ensuring that none of their own people were harmed. Not an easy feat if you asked Geoff, seeing as the dragon was hurling fire and lightning around like it was no one's business.

“That bastard,” Geoff muttered to himself, and a bit to Jack as well, who was currently pulling his battle axe out of the corpse of an Enderman. “Can you believe that fucker?” He gestured towards Ryan. “He could have been doing this the whole time, and he was holding out on us! Maybe I should check to make sure I don’t have a werewolf or vampire in my ranks.” Jack laughed, looking around at the destruction, and at the retreating Endermen.

“Maybe you should, Geoff,” Jack said, watching as Michael, hacked his way through a group of Endermen held immobile by Ray’s roses. “Michael may be a good place to start. I think he may be a Werebear.”

“If he was we’d know by now,” Geoff said, humoring Jack’s joke. “He’d never not be a bear.”

As they talked the Endermen were starting to retreat, more and more of them flitting away from the battlefield, trying to escape Ryan’s wrath. Geoff couldn’t help but grin at that. Yes, having a dragon on their side would be nice. Very nice.


	19. Suffer Not The Beast To Live

Things had been going well, or at least that's what Geoff had thought at least. But not long after the reveal of his "Tamed Dragon," maybe only a month, disaster struck. It wasn't as disastrous as it could have been, it certainly could have been a lot worse, but as far as Geoff was concerned it was the largest disaster to ever strike his kingdom, worse than even the plagues of Endermen who were currently reeking havoc all throughout his realm. No, this was far worse than that.

Someone had tried to assassinate Ryan.

Now, try here was the key word, but still, it was the thought that counted, and in this case the thought was absolutely horrible. Geoff was mortified. It hadn't occurred to him that anyone would want to kill Ryan, even if he was a dragon. But then again, he supposed that the would be assassin, one of Geoff's own knights, even, didn't know that the dragon was Ryan.

Here's what happened:

Ryan had been asleep in the garden, as the dragon tended to do now. Geoff wasn't sure why Ryan did this, if dragons needed sun like lizards and snakes, if they just liked it like cats, or if there was another reason, but either way Ryan was asleep in the garden, and everything seemed to be calm.

Except it wasn't. One of his knights, a man Geoff had trusted for years, had waited until no one else was around before attacking Ryan, drawing his sword and swinging down on the dragon's neck. But he underestimated the strength of a dragon's scales when compared with an iron sword, and instead of striking off Ryan's head as he had hoped the blow would the blade cut the drake and woke him up. It all went downhill for the would-be slayer from there, who probably would have died had the dragon not been Ryan. Instead Ryan subdued and captured his killer, before bringing him straight to Jack and Geoff.

Geoff was furious. Absolutely furious. He paced in front of his throne, trying to think about what to say to the knight who was currently trapped between the legs of a dragon.

“What the fuck?!” Geoff finally yelled. “What the absolute fuck?! You tried to kill my dragon!”

“Your dragon,” the knight sneered. “Your dragon is a monster! It killed Ryan, and you’ve invited it into your home like nothing! It’s a monster, and should be treated as such!” Behind the knight Ryan growled, a low, pained sound. Geoff frowned, looking at the knight before turning to Matt and Lindsay.

“Take him to the dungeon,” Geoff ordered. “I’ll think of something to do with him later.” Matt and Lindsay led the knight away, and once he was gone Ryan shot Geoff a look, only to leave himself. Geoff sighed, turning to Jack.

“We need to fix this.”


	20. Dragon's Ball

After the attempt on Ryan's life Geoff started to pay more and more attention to the dragon. At first it was just to make sure that no one else would try anything. The assassin was locked in the dungeon until Geoff could decide on the perfect punishment for the man, but that didn't mean that other assassins couldn't be out there. But the more he watched the dragon, the more Geoff noticed something he had somehow missed before.

Ryan was miserable. Absolutely miserable. He would spend almost all his free time sleeping instead of doing anything he used to do, such as hunting with the Lads or helping Jack. Geoff hadn't forbidden any of these things, in fact he loved the thought of a dragon going out with his Princes while they hunted in the woods, especially with the Enderman problem, and yet Ryan had stopped doing all of them. So the dragon was miserable, and had been since long before the assassin. The only question now was why.

"What could we be doing wrong, Jack?" Geoff asked, pacing in his study. "I mean, he is a dragon. You'd think he'd be happy that he gets to be a dragon now. He doesn't need to hide what he is."

"I don't know, Geoff," Jack said, looking out the window at the courtyard where Ryan was currently sleeping. "Have you considered asking him?" Geoff coughed, sputtering.

"I guess I could," he said, walking over to look out the window as well. "But that feels weird. 'Hey, Rye, we noticed you seem really depressed. Is it because of the assassins, or do you just not like the weather?'" Geoff shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Ryan could do anything he wanted now as a dragon. Sure he couldn't go out riding or train with swords, but did that really...oh.

Oh. So that was the problem. Ryan could do anything he wanted now, except actually be Ryan. Oh.

"I know what's wrong," Geoff said. "And I know how I'm going to fix it."

\-------------

Ryan huffed, sitting behind Geoff’s throne as various nobles and other people of note shuffled into the room. He was wearing this odd collar, made of gold and studded with emeralds, that Geoff had made Jack make just for this occasion. Which Ryan didn’t see the point of. Geoff had never held a ball before since Ryan had arrived, and even if this was something that Geoff wanted to do, what did he need a dragon in the room.

And yet there he was, and none of the nobles seemed thrilled. There were whispers among them that this was all just a show from Geoff, as a way to flaunt his new power to all who arrived. Ryan huffed again, earning some cautious glances from the visitors. He wasn’t happy about this. Not at all. It was bad enough that he couldn’t be a person, but now he had to sit there on display. It was horrible.

“Attention everyone!”“ Geoff yelled, ascending the throne. The room slowly quieted down, to slowly for the king’s liking. “Shut up, asshole!” The room went silent and Geoff cleared his throat. “Now you’re probably wondering why I gathered you here today. The answer is this dragon right behind me. Now, I told you that this dragon was the one that killed Ryan, and how I tamed him and now he’s loyal to me. Well that wasn’t true. This dragon didn’t kill Ryan. This dragon _is_ Ryan. Show them, buddy.”

Ryan was stunned for a moment, unsure what to do. Everyone else was looking at him with a mixture of expectancy and skepticism. Finally, he did as Geoff asked, changing back into the human body he hadn’t worn in so long.

Some hushed gasps echoed through the room while Geoff looked rather pleased with himself.

“There you have it,” the king said. “Ryan is a dragon, and always has been a dragon. He’s also my loyal knight, who has full rights in my kingdom. And if you don’t like it, then you can go live somewhere else. Ryan is here to stay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it for this story, but don't worry I will be continuing. In another story. However, I am going to change my updating schedule. Instead of updating every two weeks I'm going to cut back to once a month, updating on the 1st of every month. This way I still have a regular schedule, but I don't feel too rushed to write if my muse isn't into it.
> 
> As always follow me on ryanthedragonminecraftau.tumblr.com


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